Archive for July, 2009

Time. It marched on. Without consulting me or paying heed to my own self pitying spirit. It has a way of doing this… like John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” In the two months since I began my self imposed exile on blog street, life indeed pressed ahead and I feel all the better for it. Perhaps reflection is a good anecdote, a cure for what ails ya when you feel like you’re caught in a continuous loop of mediocrity.

So I busied myself. My beautiful girl and I relocated to a house across town from where her apartment was. We went from about an 850 square foot, 2 bedroom, 1 bath; to a 1600 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bath with some nice amenities thrown in to boot. We are still unpacking, adjusting to living SPACE and trying to figure out how to fill it. When we returned to the apartment last week to pick up some remaining, non-essential articles, I asked BB and the kids, “I kinda miss this place, do you think we oughta move back?” I got an emphatic, “NO!” in three part harmony. It is good to feel at home at our new house and while we will be continually working to improve our surroundings for a while, it will be where we hang our hat until further notice.

I also found a job. It has been a daily reminder of how fragile I am. I am not used to the rigors of construction work and I have the aches and pains to prove it. But these days a person should be glad they can work at ANY job, so I’m not complaining… it just sort of feels like a regression to me, working as I did years ago. Time has indeed moved on, but it feels like I am moving backwards. The upside is that we are able to make ends meet and my fair one still sees me as I want to be seen, not as I appear. Her love and support is my greatest reward.

In the space of two months, Michael Jackson died. I immediately thought it was a publicity stunt. Back in his heyday, MJ had quite the following. So much so that he was practically worshipped as a deity. Some equated him to the second coming of Christ as Michael the Archangel (I kid you not). But as time has passed it appears my first thoughts were unfounded, the King of Pop has truly thrilled us with his last moonwalk.

The kids took MJ’s death hard, especially when through the video, “Back to the Future II”, they had just recently became acquainted with Michael Jackson. You might recall in that movie when Marty goes into the future, we find the image of MJ conversing on a television monitor at the Club 80’s along with a chorus of “Beat It” being blasted over the jukebox.

I always enjoyed MJ’s music and energy. I didn’t understand him as a man and I guess nobody really did. I imagined him to be a lonely individual. If anyone was a victim of his own success, Michael Jackson was. And as the accolades continued to pour in touting his astounding creativity while mixed with others condemning him as a irrational human being, maybe he became disillusioned with his own crown. They say the King of Pop was about to stage a dramatic comeback but I wonder if in the end the Gloved One simply decided in his heart it was not worth it to continue.

Rest in peace, Michael Jackson.

An interesting thing happened when I stopped blogging two months ago… AMRFP had it’s second best month of activity in May and a record in June! July ain’t doin’ so bad, either. What prompted this interest has me bumfuddled. I can understand the surge of interest in Michael Jackson’s music and legacy. He almost single handedly made MTV watchable in the 80’s and we can only wonder what might have been if his life had not turned so bizarre.

But I didn’t die… I just took a break.

Anyway, I really haven’t resolved those nagging doubts about whether this is all for naught, but I figure “phooey”. I like what I do and someone else must, too… otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this, right?

And if you don’t, I can only offer two words of advice… ala’ the immortal Michael Jackson…